Programmable Cylinder Musical Toy

ABSTRACT

A musical toy includes a wheel with a cylindrical face comprised of a magnetic sheet layer, a printed graphic and a top perforated layer such that when combined they form a radial array of rows of receiving recesses each preceded by a sequence indicator such as a number. These recesses are positioned to receive metal note balls by means of an upper housing containing lettered slots that correspond to the lettered columns of the musical analog in the songbook. The tubes of the upper housing are kept in alignment with the receiving recesses by a ratchet system that allows for controlled sequential advancement of the wheel. When the note balls are placed at predetermined locations corresponding with the locations of notes on the represented staff, they fall down a tube and are guided and into the corresponding lettered recess for that position on the wheel face. The note balls are retained by the magnetic attraction provided by the magnet sheet in the wheel assembly. When a motor is engaged to rotate the wheel assembly, switch operators extending down from upper housing contact the note balls to play the music so represented by their location in the staff and note configuration. A magnetic wand is provided for quick, convenient removal of the note balls to reset the toy for another song assembly.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional 62/246,585 filedSep. 21, 2021, and hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to musical toys and in particular to amusical wheel assembly having a cylindrical carrier face with an arrayof transverse rows of holes representing the standard musical staff ontowhich metal note triggers may be magnetically placed by following anumerical sequence to compose a given song which can then be played backas the wheel assembly rotates and the note balls trigger operators of amusical instrument.

Toys that play music when they run are well known in the art. Spring orbattery powered music boxes or the like play a tune as they rotate.Different tunes may be played by replacing a portion of the music boxsuch as the disk or drum holding pins which engage a sound producingmechanism. Such musical playback devices provide limited play valueinsofar as the songs are either fixed or selected from a fairly narrowrepertoire.

In order to increase the toy play value, an alternative design may beadopted which guides the child in the simple placement of notetriggering elements so they may compose songs that the wheel plays backas it rotates around. South Korean patent number KR101522176B1, forexample, describes one such music wheel in which the note triggers areattachable and. removable such that a variety of songs are programmable.However, the attachment means requires that each note trigger element isitself a neodynium magnet. Given the number of note triggers required toassemble the most elementary of songs (as many as 100 individual units),such magnets would seem prohibitively expensive to provide in a toy. Inaddition, such a strong attachment to the rotating drum would be achallenge to remove when starting a new song. Finally, such magnets areconsidered hazardous for children's playthings. Importantly, there is noassembly guide system provided to easily index from row to row on thedrum and logically locate and place the plurality of note elementsrequired for a given song.

What is needed is a toy that provides the groundwork for early exposureto musical composition by providing a simple and intuitive means ofassembling songs having locating features that visually guide theplacement of each note by a secure means that is also easy for childrento remove and repeat the composition process.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a musical wheel, with a plurality of rowseach row beginning with a number followed by a series of transvers holesDetachable note balls may be loaded into the holes at differenttransverse positions on the drum approximating the position of notes onthe staff. The note balls may be spaced out by skipping rows to controlthe apparent duration of each note. Thus, when all the notes areassembled, the music wheel plays the notes according to their transverseposition (columns) and their circumferential spacing (numbered rows).

Specifically, the present invention provides a musical toy having awheel assembly with a cylindrical face comprised of a magnetic sheetlayer, a printed graphic and a top perforated layer such that whencombined they form a circumferentially spaced array of numbered rows oftransverse receiving recesses. These recesses are positioned to receiveferromagnetic note balls by means of an upper housing containinglettered funnel slots that have outlets that correspond to the positionsof the lettered transverse columns of the musical analog depicted in thesong book. When the note balls are placed into the proper funnellocation, they fall down a tube and arc guided and into thecorresponding lettered recess for that position on the carrier face. Thenote balls are retained by the magnetic attraction provided by themagnet sheet in the wheel assembly.

Thus, it is one object of the invention to provide a housing with funnelslots that provides convenient placement of the note balls in properalignment with the receiving transverse recesses on the wheel.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the funnel slots aremarked with note lettering that matches the lettered column location onthe carrier face of the wheel assembly.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the note balls arcretained on the carrier face by magnetic attraction between the noteballs and the magnetic sheet in the wheel assembly.

The upper housing also has a number viewing slot that aligns with thenumbered row position to provide a clear indicator of which row of thesong is in line with the funnel tubes in the upper housing. Byactivating an alignment feature, such as a spring-loaded ratchet ball ordetent that engages a feature in each row on carrier face, the funneltubes and the lettered note columns on the wheel remain in line witheach other. While programming a song an indexing lever is pushed toinitiate the rotation to the next numbered row, and the ratched ballfeature jumps to the recess in the next row. One means of achieving thisis to align the ratchet ball with the number column on the wheel and userecessed or raised features of this column as a catch point foradvancing the carrier face of the wheel. This ratchet ball feature canbe moved forward to assemble a song and then retracted to play the song.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the numbered rowlocation which is in line with the lettered funnel tubes is madeapparent.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the alignment betweenthe upper housing and the wheel is maintained by a physical alignmentfeature such as a spring loaded ratchet feature.

Thus it is another object of the invention at the wheel is capable ofindexed from one row to the next by means of a lever mechanism.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the ratchet ballmechanism is placed in line with the number slot window.

The song book is a visual depiction of the elements on the carrier faceof the music wheel. Used as a guide to place the metal note balls, eachsong has a set of numbered rows and lettered columns that match thelayout of the music wheel. For the present example, the 15 lettered notecolumns are 2 octaves from G-note to G-note. Colored graphics having aspherical appearance represent the note balls and show the child whereto place an actual metal note ball in the funnel slots of the toy.By placing the note balls from each numbered row of the songbook intothe proper location on the carrier face of the wheel, the song iscomposed in its entirety. Both the song book and the printed graphic onthe music wheel have a matching black and white pattern as a visual cueto ensure that each note ball is places in the proper location, or tohelp debug a song when it is completed. To create original songs, blankmusic sheets are provided as a. means of recording the composition.

Thus it is another object of the invention that a songbook is providedas a visual guide to placing the note balls.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the metal note balls arerepresented by colored graphical indicators on the song sheet.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the song book containslettered columns that match the notes on the musical scale to assistwith location of the note balls.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the song book containsnumbered rows that represent the beats of musical time to assist withthe location of the note balls.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the song book number andcolumn layout has a visual pattern that matches the graphic on thecarrier face of the music wheel to assist with the location of the noteballs.

The upper housing is designed so that the lettered slots are stacked intwo rows. This allows each adjacent funnel slot outlet to be tightlyaligned at the bottom exit from the tube, but two times larger in theupper slot opening (in the transverse direction) where the note ball isplaced and arbitrarily longer in a direction tangential to thecylindrical wheel.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the funnel slots arestacked in two rows to minimize the spacing between the rows on themusic wheel.

When a song is fully assembled, the ratchet feature is retracted and adrive mechanism such as a motor is engaged to rotate the wheel assembly.As the wheel rotates, the metal note balls pass by the musicalinstrument in the housing which has a series of operators each of whichis also in line with the receiving recesses of the carrier face. As thecarrier face rotates, and a metal note ball engages an operator, such asa spring loaded the proper musical note for that lettered note positionis played. Thus, the assembled song can be played back in a loop. Themotor has a speed control dial that varies the tempo of the song, andthe motor can be reversed to play the song backwards. A tone controlbutton is provided to choose various tone output options of the musicalinstrument, such as piano, harp, flute, bells, etc.

Thus it is another object of the invention that a drive mechanism isprovided to rotate the music wheel to advance the note balls on thecarrier face.

Thus it is another object of the invention that, as the carrier facerotates, the note balls contact operators that trigger the sound outputof notes of the musical instrument.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the drive mechanism forthe music wheel has variable speed control to change the music tempo.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the music wheel rotationcan be reversed to play the song backward.

Thus it is another object of the invention that the sound output tonecan be varied.

When it is desired to start over and make a new song, a magnetic wand isprovided to pull the note balls off the carrier face of the music wheel.The magnet in the wand is sufficiently stronger than the magnetic sheetof the wheel assembly. When the wand is placed near the carrier face themetal balls are retained on the end of the wand. Alternatively, amagnetic rod could be moved parallel and in close proximity to the faceof the music wheel. In this position, as the wheel rotates the noteballs are pulled from their position on the drum by the magnetic bar. Asthe metal balls roll down the face of the bar, their inertia and gravitypulls them off and they fall into a storage bin at the base of the toy.

Thus it is another object of the invention that a magnetic wand isprovided to allow for easy removal of the metal note balls to begincomposing a new song.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention willappear from the following description. In the description, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in whichthere is shown by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of theinvention. Such embodiment does not necessary represent the full scopeof the invention, however, and reference must be made to the claimsherein for interpreting the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toy of the present inventionincluding a wheel assembly comprised of a two side faces that rotate ona central axis which is suspended by two side supports. The outercarrier face of the wheel assembly is comprised of a magnetic sheetcovered with a printed graphic viewable from the exterior throughreceiving recesses in the exterior carrier surface. The upper housingcontains musical instrument and is comprised of a series of funnel slotsfor placing the note balls in transverse positions on the carrier faceof the Wheel assembly and a number window opening for viewing the numbercolumn of the carrier face. A tone output button, motor power button,indexing plunger and ratchet lever are also shown;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the musical instrument housing of FIG. 1now showing the letterers of the musical scale in each of the severaltransverse funnel openings. The view shows the two row stacking of thefunnel openings, thus allowing them to be closely arranged adjacent toone another. The number window is visible and shows the alignment ofnumbered rows with the receiving recesses of the lettered columns thatcarry the note balls when placed. The motor power button is also shown;

FIG. 3 is a front section view through the center of the upper housingof FIG. 2 showing the adjacent relationship of the funnel tubes, bothside-by-side to each other and aligned vertically to the receivingrecesses of the carrier surface on the wheel assembly. The number windowis shown on the left aligned with the printed number of the numbercolumn in the carrier surface. The magnetic sheet is also shown;

FIG. 4 is a side section view of FIG. 3 through the first A-Note funnelslot showing the path that delivers the note ball to the transversreceiving recess locations on the carrier face;

FIG. 5 is a side section view of FIG. 3 through the number columnshowing the number indexing plunger on the left and the ratchet lever onthe right that retains the round drum keeping the receiving recess inalignment with the funnel tubes;

FIG. 6 is a lower back perspective view showing the tempo and volumecontrols;

FIG. 7 is a lower front perspective view showing the note ball storagebin and the removal wand with two wand placement positions.

FIG. 8 is a sample songbook graphic showing a pictorial representationof the relationship between numbered rows and lettered note columns andindicating the transverse placement of the note balls into the funnelslots and thus into the receiving recesses on the carrier face of thewheel assembly to compose a song.

 1 Musical Toy  2 Side Face  3 Carrier Face (3a - Carrier Face Graphic) 4 Upper Housing  5 Lettered Music Notes (5a -Printed Music Notes)  6Wheel Assembly  7 Storage Bin  8 Removal Wand  9 Speaker 10 NumberedNote Rows (10a - Num Note) 11 Receiving Recesses (11a -Recess Graphic)12 Note Balls (12a - Note Ball Graphic) 13 Funnel Slots 14 Power Button15 Printed Number 16 Ratchet Lever 17 Number Window 18 Indexing Plunger19a Storing Position 19b Removal Position 20 Operators 21 Side Support22 Funnel Tubes 23 Magnetic Sheet 24 Ratchet Ball 25 Spring 26 TempoDial 27 Volume Dial 28 Song Sheet 29 Song Title 30 Tone Output Button 31Base 32 Perimeter Wall 33 Plunger Face

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Background Design

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a musical toy 1 of the present inventionincludes a wheel assembly 6 generally in the form of a cylinder whosecylinder bases are comprised of two circular side faces 2 connectedtherebetween by a transverse carrier face 3 and suspended on a centralaxis by two radially extending side supports 21 that pass upwardly anddownwardly from the central axis, The downwardly extending side support21 is to a base 31 adapted to support the musical toy 1 on a horizontalsurface such as a desk or table. Arranged in transverse rows spacedabout the carrier face 3 at regular angular intervals across the carrierface 3 are a series of receiving recesses 11 (here, fifteen tranverserecess locations) designed to carry metal note balls 12. Supended abovethe carrier face 3 and between the two upwardly extending side supports21 is an upper housing 4. Said side supports 21 have a round opening inline with the central axis of the side face 2 that holds a sound speaker9. A power button 14 exposed on the upper surface of the upper housing 4is toggled to engage and disengage a motor drive mechanism onto thewheel assembly 6 and also turn on and off the motor that rotates thewheel assembly 6. In this way the wheel assembly 6 is free to rotatewhen the motor is not running.

Referring now to FIG. 8 , the song sheet 28 shown here is the well knownsong 29 with the title Do-Re-Mi. The song sheet 28 is a printed diagramof the musical composition with the vertical columns of printed musicnotes 5 a representing the notes on a musical staff (here two octaves)and the printed numbered note rows 10 a representing the beats ofmusical measures. The receiving recesses 11 of the carrier face 3 arerepresented as a receiving recess graphic 11 a. A pattern of black andwhite squares provides a means of better referencing the correctlocation of the metal note balls 12 on the carrier face 3. The metalnote balls 12 are here represented as a spherical note ball graphic 12 aand placed in proper compositional location in line with itscorresponding printed music note graphic 5 a and printed number row 10a. Thus the visual arrangement of note ball graphics 12 a by numericalorder and in proper note position on the song sheet 28 provides a guidefor placing the actual metal note balls 12 onto the carrier face 3 ofthe musical toy 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , an upper surface of the upper housing 4provides a set of staggered openings of funnel slots leading downwardlyto narrow outlets. A top view of the musical toy 1 shows the letteredmusic notes 5 debossed within the funnel slots 13. Using the Section “A”line as a reference, this location ascribes a centerline through thecarrier face 3 at the center of one of the many numbered rows 10 (here,row number 3). Said funnel slots 13 are stacked in two rows with one rowabove the Section “A” cutting plane (per the depiction of FIG. 2 ) andthe row of alternating funnel slots 13 below the Section A cuttingplane. The printed number 15 for each numbered note row 10 appears onthe carrier face 3 and is viewable through the number window 17 of theupper housing 4. This printed number 15 precedes the series of fifteentransverse receiving recesses 11, thus indicating what row of themusical composition 28 is currently positioned for assembly of noteballs 12.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , Section “A” is a front section view showingthe upper housing 4 and fifteen note balls 11 resting side-by-side intheir receiving recesses 11 on the carrier face 3. The funnel tubes 22are an open path from the funnel slots 13 and are aligned with the rowof receiving recesses 11 on the carrier face 3, and accordingly thenumber window 17 (located at the Section “NUMBERS” cutting plan on theleft) is in line with the printed number 15 of the numbered note row 10and visible through the opening of the number window 17. Thus, the noteballs 12 can be assembled into the proper receiving recesses 11 of thecarrier face 3 by matching the printed numbered note row 10 a of thesong sheet 28 and the printed number 15 of the note row 10 on thecarrier face 3. The note balls 12 are manufactured using a ferromagneticmetal and have a diameter of less than one quarter of an inch. In apreferred embodiment, the note balls 12 have no magnetization andinsufficient magnetization to suspend themselves from an un-magnetizedferromagnetic surface. When the wheel assembly 6 rotates, the note balls12 are retained in their receiving recesss 11 by an attractive magneticthree provided by the magnet sheet 23 that resides within the carrierface 3. The magnet sheet 23 is a flexible polymer material containingmagnetic particles with transverse stripes of north-south-north polaritycommercially available through a variety of sources.

It can be observed that the funnel slots 13 of FIG. 2 are much larger inwidth than the funnel tubes 22 of FIG. 3 that open up to the receivingrecesses 11, thus allowing for a larger placement target when the childinserts the note balls 12 into the funnel slots 13. It will be furthernoted that by stacking the funnel slots 13 in the aforementioned manner,the funnel tubes 22 and their related receiving recesses 11 on thecarrier face 3 can be placed in very close proximity, minimizing thewidth of the carrier face 3 and thus the overall size of the musical toy1.

Referring now also to FIG. 4 , the Section “G” is a side section viewthrough the upper housing 4 in line with the first G-Note funnel tube 22and funnel slot 13 and receiving recess 11. It is again apparent thatduring the assembly of a the note balls 12, the receiving recess 11 andthe funnel tube 22 must be substantially aligned so the note ball 12 mayfall into its proper position on the carrier face 3. The funnel slot 13extends away from the funnel tube 22 and the surface angles upward sothe note ball 12 will fall into the funnel tube 22. Again, the designallows for a greater area of the funnel slot 13 opening and thus alarger target fur placing the metal note balls 12.

Referring now also to FIG. 5 , the Section “NUM” is another side sectionview through the upper housing 4, now aligned with the number indexingplunger 18 and ratchet lever 16 which reside in the upper housing 4. Theratchet lever 16 is articulated downward and a connecting spring 25compresses the ratchet ball 24 into a recess in the numbered row 10.While the ratchet ball 24 is in this assembly mode, a secondspring-loaded indexing plunger 18 is presssed inward toward the centerof the upper housing 4 against the force of the spring (not shown). Theplunger face 33 engages a feature on the carrier face 3 of the wheelassembly 6 (in this design, the perimeter wall 32 of the numbered noterow 10 recess) and thus the carrier face 3 rotates. As the carrier face3 rotates the trailing perimeter wall 32 of a second numbered row 10recess raises the spring-loaded ratchet ball 24 until the ratchet ball24 passes over the peak of the trailing perimeter wall 32, at whichpoint the spring pressure pushes the ratchet ball 24 into the nextsequential numbered note row 10 recess. This aligns the next printednumber 15 with the number window 17 (the number 3 as shown in theexample of FIG. 2 ) which is also in line with both the funnel tubes 22and the receiving recesses 11 on the carrier face 3. When a song 29 iscomplete and ready for play back, the ratchet lever 16 is retractedraising the ratchet ball 24 and leaving the wheel assembly 6 free torotate. This is one exampe of a mechanism whose features are designedwork in unison to sequentially index the carrier face 3 into position tocontrol the alignment of the funnel tubes 22 with the receiving recesses11 and the number window 17 with the printed number 15 during placementof the note balls 12.

Referring again to FIG. 4 , a row of operators 20 are positioned in linewith each of the funnel tubes 22 and thus in line with the letteredmusic note columns 5 of the carrier face 3. The operators 20 areswitches that connect to the sound generating electronic device. Whenthe motor wheel is engaged to rotate the wheel assembly 6, the noteballs 12 on the carrier face 3 are advanced beneath the upper housing 4and engage the operators 20. The speaker 9 then outputs the appropriatenote or set of notes for each note ball 12 in the numbered note row 10in position on the carrier face 3. Thus a playback of the assembled song29 is generated.

Referring now to FIG. 6 , the musical toy has a “Tempo” dial 26 to allowthe child to change the speed of rotation of the carrier face, and thusthe output rate or tempo of the musical playback. The device also has a“Volume” dial 27 to change the volume of the speaker sound output.

Referring now to FIG. 7 , a storage bin 7 for retaining the loose unusednote balls is part of the base 6. The removal wand 8 contains a magneticbar which is powerful enough to pull the note balls 12 off the magnetsheet 23 within the carrier face 3. In this respect, the net magneticforce at the surface of the removal wand 18 exceeds the magnetic forcebetween the note balls and the underlying magnetic sheet, both being afunction of magnetic strength and distance. When playing a song 29, theremoval wand 8 is placed in position 19 a of the storage bin 7,sufficiently far away from the note balls 12 so that they do not attractand fall off the carrier face 3. To easily clear the note balls 12 andreset the toy 1 for a new song, the removal wand 8 is moved to removalposition 19 b and the wheel assembly 6 is set in motion. As the carrierface 3 advances, the note balls 12 encounter the magnet bar in theremoval wand 8 and are pulled off the receiving recess 11 and onto theface of the removal wand 8. Now free to roll and influenced by gravity,the note balls 12 roll off the face of the removal wand 8 and fall intothe storage bin 7, ready for assembly of another song.

Referring again to FIG. 1 , the speaker 9 is held in the side support 21and aligned with the center of the wheel assembly 6. An opening in theside face 2 of the wheel assembly 6 allows the speaker 9 to provideenhanced acoustic resonance of the sound.

Generally then the invention can provide a musical toy that is a wheelmounted on an axle with numbered rows of receiving recesses at equalangular intervals on its radial carrier face. In the columnar directionrelative to the carrier face, the recesses relate to lettered notes onthe musical scale. A series of funnel tubes are positioned in a housingabove the receving recesses on the music wheel allows for organized andaligned placement of metal note balls in their proper recess locationson the carrier face. These columnar lettered funnel locations correspondto music note positions relative to the musical scale, The songbook is agraphical analog of the rows and columns on the radial face of the musicwheel toy. A window opening in the housing is positioned to align withthe sequentially numbered note rows on the carrier surface. Whenassembling a song, a plunger allows for controlled indexing and aligningof the receiving recesses with with funnel tubes from one numbered rowto the next by means of a ratchet indexing system. A series of switchoperators linked to a musical instrument are positioned near the carrierface and aligned with the note balls in the receiving recesses of thelettered note columns. When the motor is engaged the carrier facerotates and the metal note balls trigger the operators and the musicalinstrument produces the proper music note output for that letteredcolumn. The sound tone can be changed to output various commoninstruments. By locating the notes in the song book to depict thematching notes on the carrier face of the toy, children can composemusic. To begin assembling a new song, a magnetic removal wand isprovided that quickly removes the metal note balls. This toy would allowfor programming and then playing many songs. The lettered notes of themusical scale depicted in both the upper housing of the toy and thecolumn headings of the songbook reveal a visual analog to the musicalstaff. The note spacing and general arrangment of each song provide avisual conception of musical measures and the basic numerical nature ofmusical time. Thus the toy would be an entertaining and useful musicalteaching tool.

The above description has been that of a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention and it will occur to those that practice the art thatmany modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. A number of different types of musicalinstruments may be employed including mechanical equivalents to theelectronic device described herein. It will be recognized that themechanically actuated electrical switches described may be substitutedby other sensing mechanisms including photodiodes detecting reflectedlight or magnetic or eddy current-type detection systems as are wellknown in the art. In order to apprise the public of the variousembodiments that may fall within the scope of the invention, thefollowing claims are made.

I claim:
 1. A musical toy comprising: a) a wheel assembly having twoside faces and supported in a manner as to rotate on its central axis;b) a musical instrument having a plurality of transversely arrayedoperators actuable to produce corresponding musical notes, the musicalinstrument held by a housing to expose the operators adjacent to thesaid wheel assembly; c) a plurality of note balls for activating theoperators, the note balls constructed of ferrous metal and capable ofattraction to a magnet; d) a cylindrical carrier face connecting theside faces of the wheel assembly and aligned with the musicalinstrument, the carrier face having a magnet sheet surface and furtherhaving a plurality receiving recesses to releasably receive the noteballs held in magnetic engagement at different transverse locations sothat the note balls may activate the operators of the musical instrumentwhen the wheel assembly rotates.
 2. The musical toy of claim 1 whereinthe receiving recesses of the carrier face are arranged incircumferentially spaced rows to correspond to the beats of measures ofa standard musical staff.
 3. The musical toy of claim 2 wherein the rowsof receiving recesses are identified by an ascending number sequence. 4.The musical toy of claim 1 wherein the receiving recesses of the carrierface are arranged in transverse columns to correspond to the notes of astandard musical staff.
 5. The musical toy of claim 1 further includinga note ball assembly system comprising a housing suspended in closeproximity to the carrier face having a series guide paths for placingthe note balls, the guide paths having a funnel slot fir receiving thenote balls and funnel tubes ending in alignment with the receivingrecesses on the carrier face, the guide paths further being identifiedwith indicia to distinguish their location.
 6. The note ball assemblysystem of claim 5 wherein the indicia to distinguish the individualfunnel slot locations is representative of notes on a musical staff. 7.The note ball assembly system of claim 5 wherein the funnel slots arestacked in two rows and their guide paths lead to the funnel tubes, thefunnel tubes arranged in a single row between the two stacked rows offunnel slots.
 8. The note ball assembly system of claim 5 furtherincluding a through window allowing for viewing an individual number ofthe ascending number sequence of claim
 3. 9. A ratchet locating systemcomprising: a) an actuable plunger depressed to engage one of a seriesof raised features in general alignment with the rows of receivingrecesses on the wheel assembly and advance the carrier face; b) aretractable ratchet ball that when place into compressed engagement withone of a series of features in general alignment with the rows ofreceiving recesses and the plunger is depressed, the wheel rotates andthe carrier face is indexed in a controlled manner to the subsequent rowof receiving recesses on the carrier face;
 10. The ratchet locatingsystem of claim 9 wherein the plunger and ratchet ball features aresubstantially in alignment with the number row of claim
 3. 11. Theratchet locating system of claim 9 wherein one of more of the featuresare located in the musical instrument housing of claim
 1. 12. Themusical toy of claim 1 further including a printed diagram depicting thecarrier face with note balls positioned to correspond with thearrangement the notes of a song.
 13. The printed diagram of claim 12wherein the carrier face diagram is depicted as ascending numerical rowsand lettered transverse column headings.
 14. The lettered transversecolumn headings of claim 12 wherein the letters comprise the notes of amusical staff
 15. The musical toy of claim 1 wherein a magnetic wand isprovided to remove metal note balls.
 16. The magnetic wand of claim 15wherein the wand is an elongated magnet rod that can he located parallelto the carrier face such that when the note balls rotate near the wand,they are pulled from the receiving recesses.
 17. The carrier face ofclaim 1 wherein the features are constructed by means of injectionmolding of thermoplastics.
 18. The carrier face of claim 1 wherein thefeatures are constructed by means of vacuum thermo forming.
 19. Thecarrier face of claim 1 wherein the features are constructed by means ofstamping or extrusion.
 20. A musical toy comprising: a) a wheel assemblyhaving two side faces and supported in a manner as to rotate on itscentral axis; b) a musical instrument having a plurality of transverselyarrayed operators actuable to produce corresponding musical notes, themusical instrument held by a housing to expose the operators adjacent tothe said wheel assembly; c) a plurality of note balls for activating theoperators, the note balls being magnetized and capable of attraction toa metal surface; d) a cylindrical carrier face connecting the side facesof the wheel assembly and aligned with the musical instrument, thecarrier face having a metal surface and further having a pluralityreceiving recesses to releasably receive the note balls held in magneticengagement at different transverse locations so that the note balls mayactivate the operators of the musical instrument when the wheel assemblyrotates.